Monday, April 24, 2017

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti today called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi and discussed prevailing security situation in the state.

Speaking to media after the meeting, Ms Mufti said, she told the Prime Minister that the Centre should seriously think about the welfare of the state and there is no other option but to talk. She also said, there should be an environment for talks in the valley.

Invoking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s policy on Kashmir, the Chief Minister said the thread should be picked up from where he had left off. She said, during Vajpayee’s regime talks were held with Hurriyat and also with others . Ms. Mufti said, Mr. Modi has repeatedly said that he would follow Vajpayee’s footsteps, whose policy was reconciliation rather than confrontation.

Both leaders also discussed the PDP-BJP alliance in the state. She said, lower voter turnout in the recent by-polls in Srinagar and issues related to the Indus water treaty was also discussed in the meeting. Ms Mufti said, discussion was held on how losses of 20 thousand crore rupees caused by Indus Waters Treaty can be compensated as the state doesn’t have control over water resources.

Ruling Peoples Democratic Party’s district president of South Kashmir’s Pulwama, Advocate Abdul Gani Dar succumbed to his injuries in the Srinagar hospital.

Unknown gunmen intercepted his vehicle at Kundipora Kakapora Pinglina area in Pulwama around 1 p.m. today and shot at him from close range while he was on way to Srinagar.

A police official told AIR that one bullet was pumped into his chest and another hit his arm. He was rushed to Srinagar SMHS hospital in a critical condition where he succumbed to injuries. No organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Later, Ms Mufti also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh and discussed security situation in the state.

BJP today asserted that there is no rift with the PDP and blamed lack of communication for the reported differences between the two partners in the recent MLC polls in Jammu and Kashmir.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, party General Secretary Ram Madhav said things will be addressed. The BJP’s pointsperson for Jammu and Kashmir also said that the main priority of the government is to bring normalcy to the valley in one or two months. He said, all possible help is being extended to the state administration.

His remarks came after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and emphasised that dialogue is the only way to prevent the situation fromdeteriorating in the Valley.

Reliance Industries today reported a 12.3 per cent rise in its March quarter net profit on the back of higher refining and petrochemical margins.

Consolidated net profit in January-March quarter at Rs 8,046 crore, or Rs 27.3 per share, was 12.3 per cent higher than Rs 7,167 crore net profit in the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement.

For the full 2016-17 fiscal, the company generated its highest ever annual profit at Rs 29,901 crore. The annual profit was 18.8 per cent higher than the previous year’s.

Reliance earned USD 11.5 on turning every barrel of crude oil into fuel in the fourth quarter as compared to a gross refining margin of USD 10.8 per barrel in the same period a year

More than 24 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed and several others wounded in an ambush by Naxalites in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district on Monday.

The deadly assault occurred around 12.25 pm in Kalapathar area of south Bastar region, one of the worst-hit by Naxalite violence.

“We have lost 11 men in the encounter. As of now, we know that these men were out for a road opening task and they came under heavy fire from Naxalites. Seven other injured troops, including few who are critical, are being evacuated by helicopters,” a senior CRPF officer said.

The toll was later revised to 24.

They were sanitising a road which is being built in the area, the officer added.

All the troops belonged to the 74th battalion of the force deployed in the area for anti-Maoist operations.

Reinforcements have been rushed from the nearest CRPF camp, the officer added.

Twelve personnel of the CRPF were killed on March 12 in the same district in an ambush by Naxalites.

After launching the spectacular first look of India’s first Punjabi language superhero film, Super Singh, Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures and Pawan Gill’s Brat Films launched the second poster of the movie in the presence of the lead actor Diljit Dosanjh and Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan Singh.

The first poster of Super Singh launched across the national level has never happened for any Punjabi film ever before and considering the humongous response, the superhero film was trending on Twitter all India at No 3 on the day of the launch, followed by unveiling the second poster of the movie by Diljit and Canada’s Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan Singh on the sets of the singing reality show, Rising Star.

The launch weekend of Super Singh saw Harjit Sajjan Singh – first Sardar to hold such a high honour outside India having a positive interaction with Super Singh Diljit Dosanjh on the sets of the singing reality show.

Harjit Singh gave his badge of honour that the government of Canada bestowed upon Diljit since he is proud of him and all that the actor is doing to inspire kids around the world. The Defence Minister also said it’s great that we achieve super heights in life but it’s even more important to give back to society because that makes us even more super.

On interacting with Diljit and launching the second poster of Super Singh, the minister wrote on his social networking site, “Had a unique opportunity to meet the famous and very humble @diljitdosanjh. Great discussion on his work to inspire the next generation. It was terrific to hear his message and how he shares the same vision for empowering the youth. I also got a chance to see his movie poster of his upcoming film, Super Singh.”

New Delhi, April 24: Prafulla Samantara, National Convener, National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements and the leader of Lokshakti Abhiyan, Orissa has been awarded The Goldman Environmental Prize, Asia, 2017. The Goldman Environmental Prize honours the achievements and leadership of grassroots environmental activists for their sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the Natural environment.

He has been awarded the Prize for committing his life for the peoples’ struggle and the hardships that he has faced in the historic 12-year legal battle along with Niyamgiri Suraksha Samiti that affirmed the indigenous Dongria Kondh’s land rights and protected the Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminium ore mine proposed by Vedanta.

Prafulla Samantara, 65, a socialist by thoughts, has been a part of many leading Peoples’ struggles, one of which is Anti-POSCO Movement (POSCO Pratirodh Sangharsh Samiti) in Orissa. POSCO planned to invest in the mining industry, the building of a Steel Plant, captive power plant and a port in Erasama block of Jagatsinghpur District. Along with the activists like Abhay Sahoo, Prashant Paikaray, Manorama, and many others, he stood against the land acquisition process by POSCO; and has fought the legal battle in the Courts. He has undertaken Satyagraha, hunger fasts, padyatras, rallies against the building of Dams and Barrages and the emerging issues out of it on the upper stream of river Mahanadi. Living on the campus of Lohia Academy, Bhubaneshwar, he has kept its doors open for everyone and movements struggling for equity, justice and rights-based development. Respected by peoples’ movements and academics and intellectuals alike, he has given articulation to a socialist vision for Odisha and is an ardent advocate of the open loot of the natural resources of Odisha by corporations. He has been kidnapped, assaulted and attacked on many occasions by the mining company for his activism, and continues to receive threats for his ‘anti-development’ stance. But He stands strongly against such threats by believing in “We Shall Fight, We Shall Win!”

National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements welcomes the decision of the Goldman Environmental Prize and congratulates Prafulla Samantara. This is an award for the valiant struggles of the communities to save the environment and secure their right to live with dignity and oppose destruction and loot of land, water and forest by corporations in the name of development. Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan – NAPM, while, congratulating Prafulla Samantara for winning this award said,“It is the victory and recognition of the struggle of the Dongria Kondh tribe, the people of Niyamgiri Hills and the Comrades like Lado Sikaka and Lingraj Azad against the big Corporates. It is a victory of the movement and everyone who over the years has contributed to this struggle. Prafulla has proved his own commitment and courage to the world and this award succeeds in countering the false propaganda of the agencies who call it an extremist movement. This is a struggle of the poorest of the poor against the biggest corporations in the world. We are proud of and supporter of his work because he is a fighter” NAPM National Conveners Aruna Roy, Rajasthan, Arundhati Dhuru, Uttar Pradesh, Vimal Bhai, Uttarakhand, Meera Sanghamitra,Telangana, Aashish Ranjan, Bihar, Sudhir Vombetkere, Karnataka, Suniti S R, Maharashtra, Rajendra Ravi, Madhuresh Kumar, Delhi, Amulya Nidhi, Madhya Pradesh and many others congratulated Prafulla Samantara on his recognition.

As part of our Urban Workshop Series, the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and Centre de Sciences Humaines (CSH), Delhi, are delighted to invite you to a workshop onThe puzzle of Indian urbanisationby Pronab Sen,Country Director for the International Growth Centre’s India Central Programme.

Global experiences suggest that as countries develop, the pace of rural to urban migration increases with deceleration occurring only when high levels of urbanisation are reached. India presents a different picture. Here, migration began to decelerate when less than 25 percent of the country’s population lived in urban areas, and continued to do so over decades. Notwithstanding suggestions that India’s stringent definition of the ‘urban’ might mask the real levels of urbanisation, there is a need to explain this unique development experience especially as poverty and deprivation persist despite rising per capita incomes. This workshop is less about answers and intended more as a provocation to raise queries about the quality of the urban experience and its impact on migration decisions

Dr. Pronab Senis currently the Country Director for the International Growth Centre’s India Central Programme. He is also a member of the High-level Expert Group on Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (OECD) and the Technical Advisory Group of the International Comparison Project (World Bank).

Dr Sen has been Chairman of the National Statistical Commission. Prior to superannuation from the Government in 2012, he was the first Principal Economic Adviser at the Government of India’s Planning Commission. He has also held positions as the first Chief Statistician of India, as well as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, Government of India (2007-2010). He has also chaired a number of government Committees, most notably on Ecological Fragility, Control of Prices of Essential Drugs, and Slums.

Dr Sen has an M.B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the George Washington University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University.

Just see on snow nearly 1,500 bikini-clad winter sports enthusiasts taking to the slopes in Russia’s Kemerovo Region.The revelers from Russia, the US, China, Italy, Germany and France set a new record at the Grelka Fest at the famous Sheregesh ski resort, located in the heart of Siberia.Hundreds gathered at the slopes to watch and cheer on the snowboarders.

Stanislav Konenko, editor-in-chief of the Russian Book of Records, confirmed to the Siberian Times: “This year’s bikini ride had 1,498 skiers and snow boarders – this is 387 more than in 2014.”

A 21-year-old student from Novosibirsk became Miss Sheregesh at the event, winning a $10,000 prize, while the oldest person to take part was 73-year-old Eduard Nefedev.

A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck off the coast of central Chile on Sunday night with an epicenter 42 kilometers offshore, to the west of the city of Valparaiso, the US Geological Survey (USGS) reported. The quake occurred at a depth of 9.8 kilometers at 11:36pm local time (02:36 GMT). No casualties have been reported so far.

Swedish police said they had arrested a second suspect linked to the deadly truck attack in Stockholm this month. The unnamed person was detained on Sunday on the order of prosecutors, the force said. Four people were killed and 15 injured when a truck ploughed into a crowd on a shopping street and crashed into a department store in the center of the capital on April 7. The suspected driver, an Uzbek asylum seeker named by police as Rakhmat Akilov, is already in custody. Police said the second arrest had followed the examination of unspecified material gathered after the attack.

New Delhi, April 24, 2017: India’s most promising celebrity fashion and lifestyle brand WROGN is associated with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as the official lifestyle clothing partner for the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League. Off field the RCB players will be seen in WROGN merchandise and while on field their caps and helmets will sport the WROGN logo.

WROGN merchandise is designed to complement the team’s playbold philosophy and makes a fearless, daring & heroic fashion statement. WROGN’s in-stadia branding will also add colour to the home ground and will augment the vibrant and lively atmosphere during the matches.

This annual association will be promoted by both partners through their digital properties; their official site and social media channels. Additionally, the brand has comprehensive plans to engage and interact with RCB fans and WROGN customersat WROGN outlets across the country. All customers of WROGN clothing will also be entitled to tickets to the RCB matches. Fans are of assured free tickets to watch live RCB matches in Bangalore by purchasing clothing /merchandise worth Rs.5000/- and above from the WROGN line.

Announcing the tie-up, Anjana Reddy, CEO, WROGN said, “T20 is the most celebrated cricket format in the world and we are excited to partner with RCB, a strong contender this season that is brimming with youth, talent and has always kept fans entertained. The WROGN brand ethos of being bold and dynamic matches that of the RCB and this partnership will give the fans and our customer’s opportunities to engage. From all of us WROGN we wish the RCB team all the very best.”

Commenting on this association, Amrit Thomas, Chairman, RCB said, “WROGN and RCB are a bold brand fit. We are excited to see RCB’s personality getting reflected through the fashionable lifestyle sensibility of WROGN. We hope to see our fans come to the stadium dressed in RCB Jersey and WROGN apparel to cheer their favourite team.”

Shraddha Kapoor who will soon be seen essaying the role of Haseena Parker in Apoorva Lakhia’s film looks extremely convincing in the character.

In the film Shraddha will be portraying Haseena from the age of 17 till her late 40’s. From being a teenager to a married young mother to a woman in her 40’s, Shraddha has managed to look the part effortlessly but not without hard work.

To go right with the physicality of Shraddha’s character between the age of 35-45, bodysuits and prosthetics were used. Apoorva went back and forth with makeup artist Subhash Shinde, hairstylist Simran Devi, stylist Eka Lakhani and costume designers Harpreet and Ajay for almost a year to nail the perfect look.

Since Shraddha was busy with prior commitments, the trials of prosthetics were done with her body double. Shraddha being dedicated to nailing her character used to arrive a few hours early and sometimes even before everyone else came. The prosthetic and make up application was time consuming and often the make-up would melt because of which she would have to redo it all at lunch.

Shraddha started costume and make-up trials almost two months before the shoot and she and Apoorva gave a lot of inputs. It took them one month and 12 trials to get the perfect look.

Haseena is all set to release on July 14 this year. The film is produced by Nahid Khan with Swiss entertainment and co-produced by Sameer Antulay and Babu Tyagi.

Oddball Motion Pictures’ maiden production venture Behen Hogi Teri is now going to release on June 2nd, worldwide. The movie starring Rajkummar Rao and Shruti Hassan in the lead has been extensively shot in Lucknow at the turn of the year. Now the filmmakers are currently working on the post-production of the film.

A desi romantic comedy, Behen Hogi Teri is being directed by debutant Ajay K Pannalal and produced by Anthony D’Souza, Amul Vikas Mohan and Nitin Upadhyaya together. The trailer of the film is going to launched next week. And the full-blown promotions of the movie will also kick start from the first week of May.

Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a letter of intent for purchase of 16,15,000 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails( VVPATs) at an estimated cost of Rs 3,173.47 crore during 2017-18 and 2018-19 from PSUs BEL and ECIL. In its letter sent to CMDs of ECIL and BEL on Friday (21st April) , the Commission has communicated its intent for purchase 8,07,500 VVPATs from each PSUs by September 2018.

These VVPATs shall be manufactured by both PSUs only as per the design approved by the Commission based on recommendation of the Technical Experts Committee on EVMs constituted by the Commission & comprising of eminent technical professors from IITs. The Commission shall closely monitor the production of VVPATs for timely delivery well before General Elections 2019.

Explaining the importance of this step , the Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi said ” This will enhance transparency and uphold the voters’ right to know which party he or she has voted, thereby increasing voters’ confidence in the free & fair electoral process. ”

On 19th April, 2017, in compliance of the order of Hon’ble Supreme Court and as per the recommendation of the Election Commission of India, the Government had approved Rs 3173.47 crore for the procurement of 16,15,000 VVPATs to be used in ensuing elections and General Elections 2019.

Britain’s immigration officials have detained 38 Indians, including nine women, for overstaying their visas or working illegally after conducting raids in two clothing factories in the city of Leicester.

The UK Home Office Immigration Enforcement team raided two firms in the city in the East Midlands region of England last week and held 38 Indians and one Afghan man. Leicester Mercury reported that of those detained, 31 had outstayed their visas, seven had entered the country illegally and one was working in breach of their visa conditions.

The officials took 19 people into detention pending their removal from the UK while remaining 20 were ordered to report regularly to the Home Office while their cases are dealt with.

The two firms could face fines of up to 20,000 pounds for each illegal worker, if it is proven they did not take steps to establish their employees’ legal status. The two factories are yet to comment on the raids.

France, voting for the second round of the Presidential election will be held on May 7th as no candidate has secured 50 per cent votes in the first phase.

Centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen are set to face each other in a May 7 runoff for the French presidency. In first round of voting, Macron came first, while Le Pen was second, according to multiple projections.

Though Macron, 39, is a comparative political novice who has never held elected office, opinion polls in the run-up to the ballot have consistently seen him easily winning the final clash against the 48-year-old Le Pen.

Sunday’s outcome spells disaster for the two mainstream groupings that have dominated French politics for 60 years, and also reduces the prospect of an anti-establishment shock on the scale of Britain’s vote last June to quit the EU and the election of Donald Trump as US president.

In a race that was too close to call up to the last minute, Macron, a pro-European Union ex-banker and economy minister who founded his own party only a year ago, was projected to get 24 per cent of the first-round vote by the pollster Harris, and 23.7 per cent by Elabe.

Le Pen, leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU National Front, was given 22 per cent by both institutes. Macron’s supporters, gathered at a Paris conference centre burst into singing the national anthem, the Marseillaise, a few seconds after results came through. Many were under 25, reflecting some of the appeal of a man aiming to become France’s youngest head of state since Napoleon.

Le Pen, who is herself bidding to make history as France’s first female president, follows in the footsteps of her father, who founded the National Front and reached the second round of the presidential election in 2002. Jean-Marie Le Pen was ultimately defeated when voters from right and left rallied around the conservative Jacques Chirac.

The final outcome on May 7 will influence France’s standing in Europe and the world as a nuclear-armed, veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council and founding member of the organisation that transformed itself into the European Union.

China has been making unilateral claims on its buffer states after it maneuvered to get its hand to Tibet an autonomous state, with Pakistan China followed same policy.With present China’s false claim on Arunachal Pradesh. China is unilaterally claiming this territory. All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union today took out a protest rally against China’s claim over the and renaming 6 places in the state. The Students’ organization also burnt the effigy of the Chinese President Xi Jinping.

AAPSU said that Arunachal Pradesh was a part of India and will remain a part of India. Hundreds of students and general public participated in the protest rally.

The simmering issue of the China’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh gained momentum with the visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to the state earlier this month. Beijing had opposed the visit of the Tibetan Spiritual leader to the state and warned the Indian government of serious consequences if it permitted him to do so.

Just after the weeklong tour of the Dalai Lama to Arunachal ended, China had officially renamed 6 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including Tawang, which according to them are part of Southern Tibet.